Brandon Phillips is Awesome

Connor Echols plays Little League baseball for the 14U Cincy Flames. He jumped on Twitter and invited Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips to come watch his team play.

This is normally where celebrity Twitter interaction stories end. I’ve “talked” to Kanye West and Hulk Hogan, but the best thing I’ve gotten back is a “ha ha!” response from Kate Beaton. Well, Connor’s story didn’t end here, because Phillips took him up on the offer, commented on the overaggressive crazy people you find at a Little League game and took pictures with everybody. Now Connor has a story he can tell people for the rest of his life, and even his math teacher is talking to him about his Twitter.

It’s nice to know that sometimes people are cool, you know? We take it for granted, writing about these guys all the time like they’re our co-workers. I talk about Jim Thome like I know him. But it’s just reassuring to know that heroes once existed for a good reason, even if they’re just normal people who don’t really do anything special.